The Tap gas pipeline, severely opposed for a long time in Salento, cuts the milestone of 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas transported about nine months after the start of the year. Gas from Azerbaijan and entered Europe through Tap with the interconnection point of Kipoi, a town on the border between Greece and Turkey, where the pipeline connects to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (Tanap). Gas transport data, strengthening of the market position of the infrastructure, absence of damage to the environment and the sea (which was feared) and boom in presences for the summer of 2021 along that stretch of Salento coast affected by the work, that however those who go to the sea do not see, testify, once again, that fears and oppositions – of the movements as well as of many local institutions – were unfounded.
Gradual growth: from 4-5 million cubic meters per day to 20-25
Five billion cubic meters of gas are exactly half of the transport capacity of the project, sized for 10 billion and capable of doubling, but this – explain sources Tap Italia – does not mean that there are transport problems or that there is no ‘supply is required. On the contrary, 95 percent of the volumes are already booked, with only a 5 percent remaining traded on the gas exchange. Furthermore, in the comparison relating to the first eight months of operation of the pipeline, it is found that the daily quantity of gas transported has gradually increased from 4-5 million cubic meters per day to 20-25 million. Every month we take a step forward. This year, presumably, it will not reach 10 billion cubic meters but it will go around 7-7.5 billion. Because, explain the Tap sources, «we are in the Ramp Up phase of the work. Of the 3,500 kilometers of the entire pipeline, like Tap we are the final part and the pre-established quantities do not arrive immediately ».
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The market test for capacity increase
But Tap is already looking to the future, so much so that last July it launched the procedure aimed at probing the potential interest of entities operating in the gas world with the regulatory authorities of Italy, Greece and Albania – the three countries crossed by the pipeline. to an increase in supply. This is to verify the feasibility of doubling to 20 billion cubic meters transported or even less, should the future demand be lower. The market test procedure will close in 2023, because two years are the expected time frame, with a binding phase placed in the summer of 2022.
Faced with a greater quantity of gas transported, there will be no need to readjust or strengthen the pipelines, part of which runs along the seabed between the two shores of the Adriatic, because they are already sized for 20 billion cubic meters. Instead, there will be a need to readjust the connected plants, including the compressor stations, evaluating whether to make new ones or revamp the existing ones. In this sense, Tap has foreshadowed three possible scenarios in relation to future gas requests: limited, partial or total use of the additional capacity. These scenarios correspond to three investment hypotheses, modulated in the order of 14.4 billion cubic meters in the first case, 17.1 billion cubic meters in the second and finally 20 billion cubic meters if all the additional supply is required by the market.
Speaking of the 5 billion cubic meters milestone, Luca Schieppati, managing director of Tap, stated: «We are very pleased to reach this important milestone and consolidate Tap’s role as a reliable operator in the European energy landscape. In addition to strengthening energy security and the diversification of supplies on several markets, the volumes of gas supplied by Tap support the energy transition, particularly in South-Eastern Europe ». Furthermore, added Schieppati, “we will continue to pursue new opportunities for the transport of carbon neutral energy sources, such as hydrogen, by reducing emissions, in line with the energy transition objectives of the European Union”. For Marija Savova, head of commercial TAP, «the commercial operations of TAP contribute to increasing the liquidity of the gas market in Europe. It is equally important to remember that a market test is underway and that in the future Tap can gradually expand, up to double its transport capacity ».